Japanese American Veterans Association

The Japanese American Veterans' Association, Inc. (JAVA), is a fraternal and educational organization with many purposes: Preserving and strengthening comradeship among its members; Perpetuating the memory and history of our departed comrades; Educating the American public on the Japanese American experience during WWII; and Striving to obtain for veterans the full benefit of their entitlements as veterans.

Nisei soldiers in the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) served in the Asia Pacific war zone as interrogators of Japanese prisoners of war, they entered caves to persuade Japanese soldiers to surrender, they were in the Special Forces working behind enemy lines, and they were in the first or second wave of the Marines or infantry invasion forces. All these duties brought the Nisei in close proximity to Japanese soldiers alive and dead. Many of these Nisei had siblings who were going to school in Japan and served in the Japanese military. MIS Nisei said they could mentally handle every situation ...

Westport, Conn.—David Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize winning author of the Best and the Brightest, wrote the Coldest Winter, a story of the Korean War. He was highly impressed by his interview of Gene Takahashi, a platoon leader in the Korean War and later in life an executive of International Business Machines (IBM). Halberstam said Takahashi “is a wonderful man who should be celebrated.” Takahashi and his family were incarcerated in an internment camp during WW II and subsequently settled in Cleveland, Ohio.

Takahashi served twice in Korea. He served in the Korean Occupation for 18 months following his enlistment ...

Japanese Americans helped to win the War in Europe and the Asia Pacific and to prove their loyalty, which our nation had questioned. Also, timely tactical intelligence provided by Nisei linguists in the Pacific to infantry and marine commanders during combat saved countless American lives. Many combat medals were awarded to Nisei, including one Distinguished Service Cross for valor that was awarded to Bob Hoichi Kubo.

Kubo was born in Lahaina, Maui in 1919 and attended Japanese language school after his English school classes. He attended McKinley High School and the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. He was then drafted ...